Soroptimist International (SI) is a worldwide organization for professional women who volunteer to do service projects to advance human rights and the status of women. Soroptimist work together in a spirit of friendship and fun to make the world a better place for all. Working at all levels of civil society, local, national and international, SI are involved with a wide spectrum of women’s concerns.

WAGGGS has worked with SI for many years in the context of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). By organising parallel events SI has created a platform for the young women that WAGGGS brings to the conference to deliver speeches on a variety of issues that affect their lives – from girls’ access to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects at school to the impact of non-formal education on ending violence against girls in their communities. SI is a valuable supporter of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts at CSW and we deeply appreciate the fact that they genuinely care about girls’ voices being heard in the international space and enjoy seeing non-formal education in action.

Our work is currently most aligned in the area of gender-based violence, with WAGGGS’ Stop the Violence campaign complimenting SI’s commitment to collecting stories of women raising awareness in their communities on the issue.